Tough at the top

England began the year at number one in the ICC Test rankings but found life at the top difficult. The batsmen collectively underperformed as Pakistan inflicted a 3-0 series whitewash in the Middle East, spinners Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman combining for 43 wickets.

It looked like being a similar story in Sri Lanka in March after Rangana Herath's 12 wickets in Galle condemned England to their fourth straight Test defeat.

But Kevin Pietersen and Graeme Swann came to the rescue in Colombo to earn a share of the two-match series for Andrew Strauss' men.

One-day success

Under Alastair Cook's captaincy, England enjoyed a successful year in one-day internationals.

"It's tough being me"

The home summer began with a predictable 2-0 success over West Indies before the arrival of South Africa for the main event, a three-Test series with top spot in the world rankings at stake.

Hashim Amla stole the show at The Oval where his 311 not out made him the first South African to score a Test triple century and paved the way for his side's victory by an innings and 12 runs.

Pietersen's 149 in the drawn second Test at Headingley - one of his finest innings - was followed by a press conference in which he went public with the rift between himself and his team-mates and management, saying: "it's tough being me in this dressing room".

It then emerged Pietersen had been texting South Africa's players during the match at Headingley - the contents of which remain unclear - and England took the decision to drop Pietersen for the series decider at Lord's in the interests of team harmony.

Smith strikes again

Strauss, who averaged 30.74 in the final 18 of his 100 Tests compared with a career mark of 40.91, gave his declining form as the reason for his exit and denied the Pietersen saga had been much of a factor.

He became the third England captain to resign during, or immediately, after a home series against Graeme Smith's South Africa, following the path taken by Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan.

One-day skipper Cook was confirmed as Strauss' successor ahead of the tour of India, a place England last won in 1985.

Compliments to the Chef

The Essex batsman made scores of 176, 122 and 190 in the first three matches to become England's leading century maker with 23, one more than Geoff Boycott, Colin Cowdrey, Wally Hammond and Pietersen.

The turnaround was scripted by big runs from Cook, the "re-integrated" Pietersen and 37 wickets from spinners Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, who outbowled their opposite numbers Pragyan Ojha and Ravchandran Ashwin after being belatedly paired together in the second Test.

The return of opening batsman Chris Gayle to the fold after he settled his dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board and the career revival of his fellow Jamaican Marlon Samuels were key factors.

The bowling attack was led by seamer Ravi Rampaul and spinner Sunil Narine, who each took nine wickets in the tournament. Narine claimed 3-9 in the final as West Indies defended a total of 137-6, Samuels earning the man-of-the-match award for his 78 and 1-15.

Clarke's double vision

Australia captain Michael Clarke become the first player in Test history to score four double hundreds in a calendar year.

He started off by scoring the 25th triple century in Test history - 329 not out - against India on his home ground in Sydney in the New Year Test.

That was followed later in the series with 210 in Adelaide as Australia completed a 4-0 whitewash.

And the New South Welshman was at it again at the end of the year with back-to-back scores of 259 not out and 230 against South Africa at Brisbane and Adelaide respectively, although his efforts failed to prevent the Proteas winning the series 1-0.

Somerset's Compton reached a 1,000 runs for the season on June 1 and finished with 1,494 in first-class cricket at an average of 99.60. Durham and England seamer Graham Onions was the leading first-class wicket taker in the country with 72.

Retirements

Mark Boucher: Among the sadder stories of the year was the enforced retirement of South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher after he was hit in the eye by a bail during a tour match at Somerset. Boucher, a veteran of 147 Tests and 295 ODIs, underwent surgery that saved his sight but quickly accepted he would not play international cricket again. The 36-year-old finished with a record of 555 Test dismissals, 139 more than the next best, and a batting average of 30.30, including five centuries.

Rahul Dravid: The batsman nicknamed 'The Wall' for his exemplary defensive technique decided to bring an end to his 16-year international career after a difficult final tour to Australia. It all began for Dravid with a near-miss at Lord's in 1996 when he edged behind off Chris Lewis for 95 in his maiden Test innings. That was just the start of a 164-Test career that featured 36 centuries. His tally of 13,288 Test runs leaves him behind the man who batted one place below him for India, Tendulkar, and Australia's Ricky Ponting. He spent much of his career standing at first slip and his 210 catches are a Test record, while his reign as captain featured notable away series wins in West Indies and England.

VVS Laxman: Dravid was followed into retirement later in the year by VVS Laxman, leaving Tendulkar as the last remaining member of the middle order that powered India for more than a decade. Laxman finished his 134-Test career with 8,781 runs - 15th on the all-time list - an average of 45.97. The most famous of his 17 centuries came at Eden Gardens against Australia in 2001 when his 281 was the catalyst for India's victory after they had been asked to follow-on.

Andrew Strauss: After playing in exactly 100 Tests, Strauss called time on his career in the wake of England's defeat to South Africa in the summer. The Middlesex opener scored 7,037 runs at an average of 40.91, including 21 centuries, the first of which came on debut in 2004. He captained England on 50 occasions, winning 24 of those including home-and-away Ashes triumphs and a year-long reign as the world number one side.

Ricky Ponting After 168 Tests and 13,378 runs, Ponting called time on his international career after Australia's defeat to South Africa in Perth. Australia's best batsman since Don Bradman, only Tendulkar has scored more Test runs and Tendulkar and Jacques Kallis more centuries. His captaincy reign was mixed; it included two World Cup victories and a 5-0 Ashes whitewash in 2006-07, but he lost his three other Ashes campaigns and his reign coincided with the end of his country's dominance.

Tom Maynard:The Surrey batsman died in June at the age of 23. Maynard was found dead on the District Line tube track after he had earlier fled from police on foot when they stopped his car. The son of former England batsman Matthew, he was in his second season with Surrey after joining from Glamorgan following the sacking of his farther as coach. A powerful right-handed batsman, Maynard scored four first-class centuries and two in limited-overs cricket and was on the radar of the England selectors as part of the second-string Lions squad.

Don Wilson: A key member of the Yorkshire team that dominated the County Championship in the 1960s, Wilson died in July at the age of 74. A tall, accurate left-arm spinner, he claimed 100 wickets in a season on five occasions and won seven County Championship titles. Wilson toured with England twice, to India in 1963-64 and Australasia seven years later, taking 11 wickets in his six Test appearances.